Still not quite buying it, the students asked , “Well if you aren’t supposed to put them in your ears, why do people do that?” I answered, “Well, I guess it is because they can.” It makes sense to me. You have an ear canal. You have an ear canal-shaped cotton-tipped stick. Why wouldn’t you put it in there?
I think that is actually a pretty good answer to many why questions. People often do things simply because they are convenient and the consequences, if there are any, are not real enough to deter them. People do things simply because they can.
Why do people drive above the speed limit? Because they don’t think they will be pulled over.
Why do people over-eat? Because they either don’t care about the health problems it causes or they believe they will have time to get healthy later.
Why do people gamble? Because they think they will win and there is no real risk.
Why are people rude? Because it has never caused them enough problems to stop being rude.
Why do people steal? Because they don’t see getting caught as a real possibility and they don’t care about the impact of their actions.
Why do we sin? Because we are giving the free will to do so, and we have a hard time comprehending the eternal consequences.
We make mistakes because, the majority of the time, we walk away from them with no ramifications. We are careless, reckless, and we make bad decisions because we are given a choice and we decide that the risk is worth the potential (worldly) reward. We mess up simply because we can.
Fortunately, we also have the choice to make the right decisions. We can choose to seek justice. We can choose to forgive. We can choose to love. We can choose to forfeit our free will and give in to the will of God.
And why in the world would we choose to give up our free will? Because we can. And that is the best decision any of us will ever make.